


Henry Stickmin and the Greatest Heist

by xSweetSlayerx



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:46:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28081140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSweetSlayerx/pseuds/xSweetSlayerx
Summary: Now that Henry is the chief of the Toppat Clan, he and Ellie have been invited to recruit two new members. While Ellie tries to track down her former gun-toting accomplice, Henry searches for Charles Clavin. The search leads him to Washington D.C., one of the least safest places for a Toppat. How will Henry recruit Charles, now?(This is an AU following the events of the "Toppat King" timeline, being preceded by a combination of the "Rapidly Promoted Executive" and "Gov. Supported Private Investigator" timelines.)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 53





	1. Following the Leader

The Toppat Clan. The world’s largest, most powerful, _and most successful_ criminal organization. We rob the planet of its greatest wealth to fuel our own, as we have done for many years and under many leaders, including myself.

I am Reginald Copperbottom. I was the previous leader, bringing up the clan to what it is now, but this story isn’t about me. It is about my successor, the one who cunningly dethroned me, and now leads our larcenous society, among the stars of our galaxy. _Henry Stickmin._ Now, he didn’t come into the clan with an orthodox background, such as the leaders before him. He wasn’t a longtime member of the clan. He didn’t even set foot into the ranks until the day he defeated me and became chief. His only great achievement in robbery had been the theft of the Tunisian Diamond. But of course, there’s always room for improvement, as the story I’m about to tell you will show.

This is the story of Henry Stickmin and the greatest heist.

Our story begins in the streets of Washington D.C.; capital of the United States of America. Admittedly, a dangerous place for any member of the Toppat Clan, due to the heightened presence of the military. Henry had just driven in to look for a certain _friend_ of his. Henry got out of his car and looked around. He spotted what looked like a person of interest and began to approach him.

Suddenly, a man in sunglasses caught Henry’s attention in the corner of his eye. Whoever this man was, he was following Henry from a distance. Henry casually diverted his path from his person of interest, walked away, and circled the area, hoping that he wasn’t actually being followed. Unfortunately, it became apparent when Henry spotted a black van, a block down from where he parked. The Government had been anticipating him.

Not wanting to stick around, Henry briskly got back into his car and drove off. He looked in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, there were more government goons approaching where his vehicle had been sitting. He weaved through a few of the streets hoping that they wouldn’t stick to his trail. Alas, he was still being followed by the black van. Henry knew things were about to heat up and began to accelerate the car down a busy highway. He had to escape. He picked up his phone and made a call.

“Burt. You there?”

“Yes, chief. I don’t leave for lunch for another two hours.”

“I’m being tailed down a busy highway. I need you to beam me back up to the station!”

“Which car are you in? You’re gonna have to stop, so I can lock on to you.”

“I’m not gonna be in the car. I’m jumping out into the street.”

Burt raised his eyebrows. “You sure are adventurous, today, sir. You sure you’re not trying to off yourself? You’re the chief, so if you wanted to leave the clan no one could top you,” he said.

"Burtigator, I'm gonna jump out of the car and into this busy street. Beam me up as soon as you get a lock on me!"

“Got it.”

Henry tucked and rolled out of the speeding car and into the middle of the busy street, causing the car to veer to the right and off a barricade. Henry stumbled up, as cars whizzed by, some honking their horns. The black van had caught-up and stopped on the side of the road. The men in sunglasses jumped out, aiming their guns at Henry.

“Burt! I’m ready!”

“Gotcha!”

In three shakes of a lamb’s tail, Henry was lifted and teleported back up to the Toppat Orbital Station, our pleasant home above the Earth’s atmosphere. No longer surrounded by speeding cars or armed goons, Henry let out a deep sigh on the floor of the teleporter room.

“You okay, chief?” Burt asked over Henry’s phone.

"Yeah. Thanks," Henry said as he got up.

"Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for."

Henry made his way out of the room. "Charles wasn't there. It was a set-up. Apparently, The Government has noticed that I'm on the move."

"I figured as much. You know, I’m sure you want to find this Charles guy, but I still really recommend that you not go to Washington. That place is crawling with government snoops.”

"My main lead is that Charles is there. Maybe it's time I come up with a different plan to bring Charles out of Washington. Something more elaborate."

"I don't know, Chief. I mean what could you possibly do there? It’s the heart of the American government."

"I don't know, but I think it’s worth trying."

~*~

Sometime later, Henry made his way to the meeting room. He had called us in to speak with us about his grand plot. All in attendance was Ellie Rose, his faithful right hand lady, my Right Hand Man, and myself. The current situation at hand was that we invited Henry and Ellie to each find a new recruit to add to our ranks. They both had candidates, but it was apparent that both weren’t having any luck locating them.

"So, Ellie.“ Henry looked over at her. “I guess you haven’t found your recruit either, huh?"

"Nope, not yet. I know she’s in Southeast Asia somewhere, but she’s elusive.” Ellie paused for a moment so she could direct attention to Henry’s mission.

“Listen, I'm starting to get worried, Henry,” Ellie pressed on. “With this search for Charles taking you into Washington… It just seems risky. Are you sure you don’t know anyone else who would be easier to recruit to the clan?"

Henry stayed silent for a moment, considering what to say next. Then he spoke-up. "I have no doubt Charles is at the Pentagon, but now The Government knows I'm active."

"Yes, I'm sure they do," I said. I was faithful with Henry as our leader, as I had witnessed him putting his life on the line to getting us into space, before The Government had caught us, but Henry’s prospect of going after this friend of his put my nerves in knots. It made me think back to the days of when Terrence Suave, the chief before I, used to take us on haphazard missions.

"With the amount of security there, it'll be impossible to get him out," Ellie added.

"That's why we need a plan to lure Charles out of the capital. We need to create a diversion mission to get Charles to us."

"Well, I suppose it's worth a shot," I said.

"Why’re you doin’ this for this one guy?" asked Right Hand Man. "He's government! How do you know we can trust ‘im?"

"Because I do. _I_ trust Charles. That's why."

"How?!"

I looked at both Henry and my Right Hand Man with concern. If there were ever any tension in the room, it would be because of them. Henry is the one responsible for Right Hand Man’s current condition as a cyborg, after all. Right Hand Man has always held some level of animosity towards Henry, since he woke-up suddenly half machine and with his enemy suddenly being the new leader. Despite my acceptance of Henry, my Right Hand Man has had a much harder time coping, understandably. It wasn’t uncommon for them to butt heads.

Henry began to appeal to him. "In my short time with Charles, he's the one who helped me break into the airship. He has the skills, but I have this hunch. This gut feeling that he needs to be a Toppat. I'm certain that he has the potential to become one of us and leave The Government."

"That's a load of bull. We can't risk the safety of the clan on a hunch!" Right Hand Man protested, standing up from his seat. We could _feel_ his frustration in his gruff, metallic voice. "We still haven’t recovered since the launch of the Orbital Station! We’re missing our own men, supplies, and weapons! Reginald, you know this sounds ridiculous!"

I took a moment to absorb that Right felt the same uneasiness that I did, and then looked at Henry. “Henry, is there evidence that the recruit has the potential?"

"I wouldn't be chief without him. Even though that wasn't his plan…"

"I agree that it's tremendously risky. Then again, this is like we're pulling off a heist for a person. To steal an asset from The Government and make it our own might be worth the gamble," I said.

Right Hand Man conceded, slid back into his seat, and looked at Henry. "Well, if you trust him as much as you claim, then I guess that’s the confidence we need."

I could tell by Right Hand Man’s tone that he wasn’t fully convinced, nor was he exactly proud of compromising with Henry.

"We need to figure out something to steal to be our cover. Any ideas?" Henry asked.

"Well, we need something extravagant, yet something The Government probably would suspect that we’d take. We can't just rob a convenience store,“ I suggested.

“The Government already knows you're there, so it should be something in the capital or around it. We don't even have to actually steal it. Just create a diversion to bring out Charles," Ellie said.

“I’ll have the research team look into it,” Right offered. “They should be able to come up with something, by the end of the day. Hopefully, it’ll be something where we can minimize our losses.”

“Thanks, Right Hand Man,” Henry said.

Right Hand Man only hid his face under his tipped hat.

“I know we have our weapon shortage problem…” Ellie muttered and scoffed. “I wish I could find my friend Bowie. She’d be able to hook us up with a bunch of weapons.”

“In that case, I’ll keep the research team on the lookout for ‘er too,” Right Hand Man replied.

“Thanks, guys.” Henry praised. “I’d be hopeless without you guys.”


	2. Locating the Dealer

The next morning came to the Orbital Station. I got up and readied myself for another day of interacting with the little society we had created above Earth’s atmosphere. I exited out of my room and went down the hallway, on my usual route. It wasn’t long before my Right Hand Man intercepted me.

“Good morning!” I called to him.

“Mornin’, Reg,” he grumbled, looking at a note in his hand.

“Any word from the research team?”

“Yeah, they have a lead on something. Here. You’ll never guess what it is,” he said, handing me the note.

“Ah… Another gemstone. Lovely,” I muttered, handing Right the note back, as we continued walking down the hallway.

“I know we said we didn’t have to actually steal the thing, but it would be real’ nice to get a payout, out of this whole mess.” Right said. “I understand what you meant about stealin’ an asset from The Government, but you have to admit it, and I saw that look on your face. Don’t tell me this doesn’t make you think of Terrence.”

“It does.”

“Then why are you going with this plan?”

“Terrence was an adrenaline junkie and had no leadership skills. Henry is the complete opposite. It’s been made clear that he takes his role as chief seriously, and he’s won over the respect of many of our members. Except you, of course.”

Right sheepishly looked to the side.

“I’m sorry, Reg. I’m still really tryin’ to get used to all’a dis. It’s not easy wakin’ up from a coma, being half the man you used to be, and the rat that put you there is now your boss.”

“I know. I know.” I patted his back. “Maybe this time around, he’ll win you over.”

“Don’t count on it. Hold up.” Right stopped us in front of Ellie’s door. “I need to give this to Ellie,” he said, buzzing her doorbell.

“Just a minute!” she called through the intercom, a moment before opening the door. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

Right handed her a different slip of paper.

“Good news. The guys got a lead on your friend and actually got ahold of her phone. The connection was shite, but they said they got enough through to let ‘er know you’re looking for her.”

Ellie’s face lit up when she received the note.

“No way! Thank you! I have to call her right away! Oh! Did you guys come up with anything to steal?”

Right folded his arms. “Guess.”

“Another rock?”

“Yup.”

“Called it. Give me a buzz when Henry wants to discuss the plan,” she said as she sprinted off to communications.

“Good luck, Ellie,” I called as we waved at her.

“If only retrieving this Charles guy was this easy,” Right muttered. “I hope this girl will get us some good weapons connections. We’re gonna need them if we want this mission to go without a hitch.”

I sighed. “I honestly hope you’re right…”

~*~

Thankfully, Ellie was able to get a hold of her friend. She invited all of us to accompany her to meet our potential new recruit, and we happily obliged. Because we were incognito, we were taking a vehicle to our destination. Specifically, _my_ vehicle.

“I love your new ride, Reginald! It’s so comfortable!” Ellie said, sinking into her seat.

“I know, right? The last mission Right Hand Man and I were on really paid off!”

Long story short, I had gotten a new car. A flying convertible, to be exact. I got it customized to somewhat resemble the old airship. I guess I missed it, a little bit.

“So uh, Ellie,” Henry called to her from his seat, over the wind. “Why is your girlfriend in Malaysia, of all places?”

“She’s here working on an arms deal. I don’t think I mentioned it you guys; Bowie is an arms dealer in the black market. She, like, knows everything about guns. I met her in Japan. Apparently, she’s got clients _everywhere_. And don’t worry. She’s good at stealing stuff.”

“What did you guys pilfer back in Japan?” Henry asked.

“Mostly just snacks. I remember Bowie being really good at pickpocketing. Our big heist was some sort of weaponry in a military base. Guns, obviously. I got a nice pistol and stack of cash out of it.”

“She’s already sounds more promisin’ than Henry’s guy…” I heard Right mumble begrudgingly, under his breath.

It didn’t take too long for us to get to our destination. We were heading for a rural town away from the cities. We parked on the outside of town and followed Ellie to the supposed meeting place where this Miss Bowie was waiting. We walked through the town until it seemed like we had reached the center. Needless to say, it was easy to spot the only other foreigner in the vicinity; a petite, young lady with purple hair.

“Coffee?!” I suddenly heard Ellie call.

The girl glanced around and saw Ellie. “Green tea?!” she answered in a sweetly voice.

Both girls cheered and quickly went to hug each other. Henry, Right, and I slowly followed behind, only hearing some inaudible chatters among the girls.

“Watashitachiha nanigo o hanashite iru nodesu ka?” I heard Bowie say.

“English. We’re not being followed by anybody.”

“Oh, okay. We’re safe here. I just got done with business,” Bowie said as her hat shifted over her eyes. It seemed a little too big for her.

“I love your hat!” Ellie said.

Bowie picked her black, bowed and veiled top hat off her head. “Thanks. Since, we’re gonna be wearing hats, I thought I should practice. This one’s kinda big, though.”

“Don’t worry, my dear,” I assured her. “We’ll get you properly fitted when you’re on the station.”

“Thanks.”

It suddenly dawned on Ellie to introduce us. “Oh yeah! Bowie, these are the guys from the clan. Reginald Copperbottom and his Right Hand Man are the former leaders. They’re Toppat TopOps, now.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, as Right tipped his hat.

“And this is Henry, our chief! Everyone, this is Bowie Strife!”

Henry approached Bowie and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you! Let me be the first to welcome you to the clan. With what Ellie’s told us, you should be a great addition to the team. Although, I have to admit; you sure stand out with that hair of yours, just like Ellie,” he chuckled.

Bowie grinned.

“Yeah, Bowie, do you have the hair thingy?” Ellie asked her.

“ _Hair thingy?_ ” Henry raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I do!” Bowie pulled a small device out of her pocket. “Check this out.” She twisted a dial and pressed it. Bowie’s hair immediately changed to the same shade of red as Ellie’s.

“Haha! Now, you guys look like sisters!” Henry laughed.

“Yeah, when you have to go incognito or undercover, it really helps to be able to change your appearance on a dime!” Bowie chuckled, as she changed her hair back. “Anyone wanna try?”

I raised my hand. “Does it work on mustaches?”

She smirked and tossed the device to me. I fiddled with the dial and pressed it. With a smile, I changed my mustache to the same ginger-orange color as Right’s.

“Very funny,” he grumbled, folding his arms.

“So, what’s up with the coffee-green-tea thing?” Henry asked.

“Oh. Those were our code names, in Japan. Like I said, we mostly pickpocketed snacks,” Ellie replied.

“That reminds me…” Bowie cut in. “What happened to you? We lost contact, after a while.”

“Ever heard of The Wall?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Oh boy, do I have a story to tell you. Let’s get your stuff, then Henry and I can tell you all about it, in the car. By the way, you’ll love Reg’s new car, and you’ll love the orbital station, and the rest of the clan. Don’t worry. They’re all gentlemen.”

We began to grab Bowie's things and take them to the car. There were a few cases big enough to hold what I’m certain were guns.

Bowie giggled and whispered something I didn’t understand to Ellie. “Dansei wa tashika ni aikyōdes.”

Ellie shushed her and said something about talking in English, again.


	3. Briefing the Clan

The day had come where Henry would brief us all on his master plan. Considering the risk of this, all the available TopOps were brought in to be part of the plan, with a handful of other members, including Bowie. We figured it would be an opportunity to prove her stuff.

“Thank you all for undertaking this mission,” Henry began. “This won’t be a run-of-the-mill mission, as our target is not something of monetary value. It is a person. Helicopter pilot, Charles Calvin.”

On the big screen, Henry popped-up a picture of Charles’ military ID, headset and all. Showing specifically the military ID may have not been the best idea. I heard some anxious whispers amongst the other members.

“Yes, he is government, but rest assured, I feel confident that I can convert him to one of us.”

“Convert him?” Sven Svensson asked. “I just thought we we’re gonna bring him on board to interrogate or something. Why are we bothering to try and convert some from The Government?”

“Well, to be fair it wouldn’t be the first person we’ve recruited that was former military, right?” Geoffrey Plumb said. “I don’t remember off the top of my head who it was, but it’s definitely not unheard of.”

“Don’t worry. I believe Charles will be an asset to the clan,” Henry continued. “So, yeah. The plan is to cause a diversion to lure The Government, including Charles, out of the capital. The research team has found us a decoy target for us to create said diversion. Meet the Brazilian Tourmaline.”

With that, Henry changed the image to a picture of the brilliantly dual-colored gemstone. The eyes of the attending members got wide, and I’m sure I heard a few intrigued murmurs. I may have been among them, as this was a much better picture than the one Right had showed me. I found it amusing when I looked over at him, being the one person in the room who was apathetic, while Bowie, who was seated next to him, was excited enough to be lightly bouncing in her seat. I looked back at the gemstone, and coincidentally, the tourmaline itself reflected their behavior. It was green and pink, two contrasting colors split perfectly right down the middle, with only a few bars of the opposing colors on each side to make it even more intriguing.

“I hate to inform you guys, but it’s not as big as the rest the notorious gems in our collection,” Henry continued. “It’s, like, golf-ball sized. _However_ , it _is_ worth a shiny penny or two. It’s estimated to be around 120 million.”

“Screw the copter guy, let’s just steal _that!_ ” Carol Cross spoke up.

“That’s right, Carol,” Ellie said. “Get real’ serious about wanting to steal that gem because we want The Government convinced that’s our real target. If we do succeed in stealing the Brazilian Tourmaline; it’s an added bonus.”

Henry continued. “The plan is that you guys handle creating the diversion, by going after the tourmaline, while Ellie and I try to secure Charles Calvin. The tourmaline is being safeguarded in a warehouse. The story is that the gem is being sold from its current owner to some other wealthy business fella. They’re keeping it in the warehouse apparently to keep it inconspicuously out of reach of the public view, but the research team caught a leak. The warehouse is on the outskirts of the capital, so that’s where we’re going to draw The Government out.” He pointed out a place on a map that he brought up on screen.

I chimed in. “It’s not just a matter of stealing the tourmaline, but keeping The Government busy. This won’t be a clear-cut, in-and-out job.”

“Yes,” Henry replied. “Hopefully, Ellie and I will be able to locate and retrieve Charles quickly.”

“We’ll make sure you’re well-stocked and armed,” Ellie added. “Our other will-be recruit, Bowie Strife over here, has given us the goods to replenish whatever fire power we lost, back at the launch site.”

Bowie waved, when everyone looked at her.

“Well, thank you, Bowie. That was fast,” I remarked.

“Heehee. I have my connections…”

“I know I’m asking a lot of you guys… “ Henry said, soberly. “Even with everyone’s skills and our weapons, this will be a dangerous operation. Trust me when I say you guys will have my eternal gratitude for this.”

“Sounds fun to me,” Geoffrey grunted. “It’s nice to change things up every once-in-a-while.”

“Let’s be brutally honest,” Thomas Chestershire chuckled, “The profession would get rather boring if we didn’t mix things up, here and there. It’s good for keeping on our toes.”

“And keeping the job from getting stale,” Carol added.

“Besides-” Right suddenly spoke, causing everyone to jump. “I really want to meet this Charles guy you’ve makin’ a fuss about. I hope he’s gonna be as excited about joinin’ the clan as you are, _chief_.”

I cracked a smile at Right trying to be nice.

“Thanks guys.” Henry said, relieved. “Now, who’s ready to make a plan for one of the greatest heists ever?”


	4. Recruiting the Pilot

A couple days later, it was the last few hours of darkness in the morning we decided to storm the warehouse. Sven slowly crept his way through a side entrance of the yard the building was located in. He weaved in between smaller buildings and through alleyways, until he spotted a guard and stopped in his tracks. He took a moment to look around to figure a way to get past the guard. When he got his bearings, he made a break for it and ran past the guard.

“Hey! Stop!” the guard yelled as Sven disappeared back into the shadows. “Central, a Toppat has been spotted! Send the back-up!”

Sven made it to a dark corner in a building to catch his breath and call us on his walkie-talkie.

“I did it…” he panted. “They saw me.”

“Good job, Sven,” Henry replied over the walkie. “Everyone, we have their attention. Stand by until they reach us.”

We had all spread out to infiltrate the warehouse on every side possible. The TopOps who had come along were the ones going into cause a ruckus around the Brazilian Tourmaline. Right Hand Man, Bowie, I, and a mass of other Toppat members were already scouting the perimeter, new guns loaded, to keep up crowd control. We didn’t want the warehouse to be _over capacity_ , you see. The goal was to retrieve Charles and the tourmaline under the cover of darkness and escape at the first light of day.

“When they land, you guys know what to d-“ Henry was suddenly cut off by the sound of military trucks and helicopters, seeming to have come out of nowhere.

“That was _reeeaaallly_ quick…” Ellie muttered, as the vehicles all came into sight.

“I guess they were closer than we thought. No big deal,” Henry said. “We’ll just have to speed things up, a little.”

~*~

On the north side of the yard, Bowie was patrolling with Right, on a rooftop. The sudden presence of the military surprised them, as well. Soldiers started hopping out of the trucks.

“There’s so many!” Bowie called to Right.

“I have a bad feeling about dis,” he responded, troublingly.

“Right hand Man!” I called him over his communicator. “The Government is quickly encroaching on your position. Move!”

“We’re sitting ducks! Quick! Get on!”

“WHOA!”

Right grabbed Bowie and spun her around, behind him, practically throwing her onto his back. Bowie barely had enough time to climb up, before Right used his cybernetic legs to blast them off the roof, taking flight.

The other scouting Toppat members took cover on their respective rooftops and other hiding places. They readied their weapons, preparing to fend off the oncoming soldiers, if The Government swarm became too overwhelming.

~*~

Inside the warehouse, the TopOps were sneaking around, trying to find a safe path to the tourmaline. Several men were guarding it. Carol signaled to the others to spread out. As they crept around, they didn’t realize they had already been spotted.

“There in here,” a guard quietly spoke on his walkie-talkie.

With that, a mass of soldiers stormed in, guns at the ready.

“Come out, Toppat scum!” one of them yelled.

They immediately fired warning shots into the air. However, the Toppat members were unaffected by the sudden change in atmosphere.

“Heh. All according to keikaku…” Geoffry chuckled, as he picked-up a device, beside him.

Suddenly, Sven and Thomas slammed the doors shut behind the soldiers.

“You fellas sure create a ruckus,” Mr. Macbeth said as he walked into view.

The shocked soldiers pointed their guns at him.

“Easy guys, I ain’t gonna hurt ya. I just wanted to welcome you to our little party.”

Geoffrey came out of his hiding spot, and quickly setup what I suppose we could call a _boom box_. He hit the play button and music began to play. The soldiers looked confused for a moment then suddenly started showing signs of distress. Mr. Macbeth began to dance the distraction dance.

“What… is this music…?!” one of the soldiers struggled to say.

“Pull yourselves together, men…!” another yelled.

“I can’t…! I… I must dance!”

One by one, all the soldiers and guards gave into the music and began dancing.

“How? How are you doing this?!” the leader struggled to ask.

“NewTube’s Top 50 Try Not to Dance Music Playlist…!” Geoffrey yelled over the music, as he gave Mr. Macbeth a set of earplugs. “…But with a twist! It’s been altered! A little technical tweaking from our man Wilhelm, and we’ve made it “NewTube’s Top 50 _Most Hypnotizing_ Try Not to Dance Music Playlist”. Haha. Screw copyright infringement.”

Carol hopped down from her hiding spot. “This playlist is long enough to keep all you busy, until we make off with the tourmaline and our helicopter man!”

All seemed well, but little did the Toppats know they were being watched.

~*~

Back on the roof where Henry and Ellie were stationed, they were busy trying to observe the three helicopters that flew in.

“Which helicopter is supposed to be Charles’?” Ellie asked.

“The smallest one, I guess?”

_“You guess?!”_

“They all look the same! The only real difference is that one has a Charles-flavored filling!”

“We’re not even sure Charles is in one of those!”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out!” Henry said, as he gave Ellie a particular look.

Ellie knew what to do. She raised her hands to use her force powers to bring the three copters to them. She brought the three copters close enough that their propellers knocked into each other, destroying the copters’ option to fly away. They were also close enough for Henry to get a good look through the windows to see who was inside.

“Hey! Henry!”

To Henry’s surprise and relief, Charles was in the leftmost copter, waving.

Henry waved back.

 _“Ugh… Henry…”_ Ellie groaned, struggling to hold onto all three copters.

Before Henry could respond, another of the pilots leaned out of their cockpit, with a gun, ready to fire at them.

“Ah! Drop’em!” Henry yelled.

Ellie was quick to drop the other two copters on the ground. She took Charles’ copter, lifted it over her and Henry, and set it in an open storage area, which had been walled off so no one could get in (or out). After Charles was safely in place, Henry and Ellie hopped down to him. Charles opened the door of the copter.

“Heyya, Henry! How’s it hangin’?” he said, oddly cheerfully.

Henry was taken aback by Charles’ demeanor. “Hey, Charles. I uh… y’know. Stealin’ stuff… running the world’s greatest criminal… Y’know? The fun stuff. What have you been up? You been good?”

“Me? Aw yeah, me just being a good soldier, flying the heli’ around, and _plotting my revenge!_ ” his tone shifted as he pulled out a gun.

“Whoa! What?!”Henry exclaimed as he and Ellie raised their hands.

“Haha! Just pullin’ your leg,” Charles laughed as he lowered the gun to his side. “I know we’re cool. I’m actually really happy to see you, Henry.”

Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. “That wasn’t funny, dude!”

“Don’t worry. We’re all professionals here. So what’s up? I thought you guys were hightailing it for that gemstone.”

“We uh… actually came here to get you,” Ellie said.

“Huh? _Me?_ ”

Henry walked up to Charles and put his hands on his shoulders.

“Charles, I want you to join the Toppat clan.”

“What? Seriously? Why?”

“I think you’d be great working with us! You’re such a great pilot, not to mention you really helped me infiltrate the airship. I know it wasn’t your plan, but I wouldn’t have gotten _where I am_ without you. I think you’d find things worthwhile there, and your talents appreciated. I mean, I can give you some time to think about it, but-.“

“I’ll join,” Charles interrupted, with a shrug.

“Wait. What?”

“You… will? Just like that?” Ellie asked.

Charles sighed. “Let me tell you what’s been going on. At first, yeah, I was totally irked that you joined the clan, and now, since you guys launched into space, you have been so much more powerful. It’s been _incredibly_ frustrating! I was even planning on coming after you guys, myself, a long time ago, but… I’m exhausted. I’ve been on this wild goose chase with the Toppat Clan for so long, now, I’m just flying my helicopter in circles. I want to have fun flying again, Henry. And you and I honestly did have a good time breaking into the airship. … You know what they say, if you can’t beat’em; join’em.”

Both Henry and Charles smiled at each other.

“That sounds like a good plan to me, Charles.”

Henry reached out his hand to welcome his old buddy. Suddenly, a loud noise came from inside the helicopter, catching everyone’s attention.

“What was that?” Eliie asked.

“The helicopter settling?” Henry guessed.

“N-No…” Charles looked puzzled. “Helicopters don’t make that sound…”

The three of them cautiously made their way to the copter to investigate. Charles peered through the door.

“I don’t see anything… Wait… What’s that smell?”

“Eat asphalt, _government!_ ”

Charles was suddenly tackled to the ground by an unknown figure. … Wearing a top hat…

“Holy stick! Fredrick, is that you!?” Henry exclaimed.

Sure enough, the Toppat struggling on the ground with Charles was none other than Fredrick Muenster, one of the men that were taken into custody, during the government raid on the orbital station launch. Hearing Henry, Fredrick quickly looked up and stopped fussing with Charles.

“Henry? You’re back!”

“I’m back? You’re back! What are you doing here? We were planning on rescuing you in the sequel!”

“Screw the sequel, chief! We have bigger problems! This whole thing is a set-up!”

“What?” Henry and Ellie asked.

“When I escaped, I was gonna use a military vehicle to get out, but on my way there, I heard talk about The Government knowing that you were in the capital, and that they were going to intentionally use the Brazilian Tourmaline as bait to lure you and Toppats into the open! It’s a sting operation!”


	5. Combating The Government

Meanwhile, “the party” was still going in the warehouse.

“Now…” Carol made her way to the case where the tourmaline was being kept. “Let’s secure our little fella here.”

Without warning, a gunshot was heard, blasting the boom box. The music shut off, freeing the soldiers of its spell.

“Now, we can _really_ call that a _boom box_ ,” said an ominous figure, walking out of the shadows. It was revealed to be General Hubert Galeforce. “You sad sacks are so greedy, it’s like drawing moths to a flame.”

“It’s a trap!” Geoffrey yelled.

The Toppats drew their guns, but more soldiers began to funnel their way into the warehouse. They were outnumbered. They grouped together but found themselves cornered by the enemy, ultimately surrounded. General Galeforce presented himself, in front of the crowd, putting himself between the army and the small group of Toppats. He opened his hand to reveal the Brazilian Tourmaline within it.

“After all these years, you didn’t honestly think we’re starting to predict you guys? It was all too easy. Like, setting-“

~*~

“-Cheese in a mouse trap!” Fredrick buried his head in his hands.

Henry lifted Charles to his feet.

“Charles? Did you know about this?”

“No, not exactly! I swear. I was just told that we’re going after the Toppats, who were trying to steal a jewel, on the other side of town. We’ve always been at the ready with the goal to take you guys on, but they never tell us the finer details like sting operations.”

Henry pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Everyone, be on guard! I just got informed this is a sting operation!”

“You’re late on that one, chief,” Sven communicated back. “God, I hate sting operations…”

~*~ 

“I knew it! I bloody knew it!” Right Hand Man angrily hollered, as he was airborne with Bowie.

They were in the airspace just over where the military was scrambling to get into the warehouse. Toppat guns were starting to pop off as more government entered the vicinity.

“There’s too many of’em! Time to start shootin’.”

Right readied his laser eye and blasted a few incoming vehicles. Bowie aimed her gun at the soldiers attempting to further invade the warehouse.

“Hey, Right Hand Man, you ever done long distance kneecapping?”

She began to fire round after round, each bullet striking a soldier in the legs, stopping each in their tracks.

“Outstanding marksmanship…” Right remarked. “But, I’m not too surprised. I suppose it comes with the territory.”

“The tires of chaser vehicles make good target practice.”

“Heh. I’ve been there.”

Right grabbed his own pistol and started firing upon the soldiers with Bowie. The battle between the Toppats and The Government had begun!

~*~

Back in the warehouse, the others were still very much surrounded. They could hear the commotion, outside but it wasn’t doing anything to improve the situation within the warehouse.

Sven motioned to his comrades around him. “Everyone get behind me. And keep your ear plugs in,” he whispered. He readied what appeared to be a rifle behind his back. He clicked a button and it started charging.

“I’ll give you guys a chance to surrender,” Galeforce called to them. “Or I’ll let my men do their thing, and have them cleanup part of the stain that is the Toppat Clan.”

The gun behind Sven’s back suddenly made a noise, catching the attention of the soldiers. Before they could react, Sven drew the gun from behind him and fired! Instead of bullets or lasers, a subsonic wave emitted from the weapon, stunning the entire army within the warehouse, including Galeforce, making them fall unconscious. Everyone behind Sven was safe.

“What was that?” Thomas asked.

“A gun Bowie let me borrow,” Sven answered, holding up the futuristic looking gun. “She calls it the _Dead Beat_. These guys’ ears are still gonna be ringing by the time they wake up.”

Carol walked over to Galeforce’s unconscious body and took the tourmaline from his hand. “No matter how hard you try, Galeforce, you’ll always be a couple steps behind us.”

Soon enough, more soldiers started scrambling in.

“Well, looks like the cops got called in on our party. Let’s get out of here!” she yelled.

All at once, they each scrambled towards their exit paths.

~*~

I suppose you’re all wondering where _I_ am, in this part of the story. I had been scouting on the other side of the yard, but as soon as The Government showed up, I drove into one of the buildings to hide out, keeping in contact with Right Hand Man and Bowie.

When the call came in that we had fallen into The Government’s trap, I left my hiding spot, to reach Henry. I drove through the alleyways. I may have bumped off a soldier or two. It was still dark outside, and I didn’t have my headlights on… It took me a little while to finally arrive on the scene. When I got there, everyone was looking at the helicopter.

“Yeah, she’s not gonna fly with shredded propellers, like that,” I heard Charles say.

“Oops,” Ellie replied.

“Yeah, definitely not the greatest plan.”

“Guys! Is everyone alright?” I called over to them.

“Reginald!” Henry called, as he ran over to me, with the others. “Yeah, we’re fine. All of us including, Fred, over here.”

I was shocked to see my old comrade standing there, cheese hat and all. “Fredrick! You’re alright! What are you doing here?!”

“Long story. We have to get out of here.”

“I heard.” I looked to the side and also noticed Henry’s headsetted friend. “I suppose we’re at least successful in retrieving our target?”

“Yeah. Reg meet Charles Calvin. Charles, this is Reginald Copperbottom, the former chief.” Henry presented Charles and the young man seemed rather timid.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he nervously chuckled. “I uh… I guess you can imagine I’ve seen your picture a lot.”

Him and I shook hands. I really held no grudges against him.

“It’s nice to meet you as well. You’ll have your work cut out for you when you reach the orbital station, in order to prove your accountability.”

“Haha. I have no doubt about that, sir.”

“Speaking of getting the orbital station…” I turned to my successor for guidance. “Henry, what’s the plan?”

“Same as before. We break for the warehouse, get to the extraction point, on the roof, and have Burt beam us up. I just got a call from Sven. They seem to be on their way out now. I think Right and Bowie are just having target practice. We just have to get there and regroup.”

“But the place is surrounded by The Government. Even with our firepower, we’re outnumbered,” Ellie added.

“I uh… I kinda have a plan.” Charles piped up.

“We’re listening,” I said.

“The Government is after you guys, yeah? _But_ , they’re _really_ after Henry, the most. You’re the chief, after all,” he pointed out to Henry. “I don’t know if you’re up for this, Henry, but you might have to use yourself to draw attention away from the others.”

Henry took a moment to think. “That might be our only option. Let’s do it.”

“Do what exactly?” Ellie asked. “You need to get back to the extraction point too!”

“No, I’ll rendezvous with Reginald, outside the yard, and we can make our escape that way. You and Fredrick, go with Reg.” He picked up Ellie and put her in my car, Fredrick following. “Reg, get them to safety, and when I get you an opening make for your escape route and wait for my call. Charles, you’re coming with me.” He motioned to Charles, and then started to leave.

“Wait, where am I going to meet you, Henry?” I asked him.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean _you don’t know?_!”

“I’m counting on you, Reg!”

“ _Henry!_ ”

I couldn’t get an answer, as they had already disappeared into an alleyway.

“Ugh, I trust him, but sometimes I just don’t understand him,” I mumbled, as I hopped into my flying car, and we took off for the warehouse.

~*~

Inside the warehouse, everyone was making a break for it. It was easy for Mr. Macbeth to brute force his way up, but the others all had more unique methods.

Geoffrey and Sven were making their way out a back hall, but soldiers suddenly confronted them and blocked their path.

“Hehe, time to use this.” Geoffrey chuckled.

Apparently, he had snuck himself a duplicatorange. He ate it whole, causing him to clone himself.

“You know what to do.”

His clone nodded in agreement, and prepared to charge the soldiers.

“Toppat Clan forever! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!” he yelled, charging the soldiers.

The soldiers all fired upon the clone, causing him to dematerialize. By the time the soldiers adjusted their attention it was too late. Geoffrey and Sven had escaped. They made it outside where there weren’t any soldiers but they still needed to get to the roof.

“Now what?” Geoffrey asked Sven.

“Here. I have this.” Sven pulled a small device out of his pocket, a corruptick. “Hang on Geoffrey, this is gonna be a ride ‘n’ a half.”

Sven threw down the corruptick, and thȅ̜̟̺̭̺̳̬ͯͮ͞n̸̗̣̘̚ 00000C00000000000000 000y0000 00a00 0n000 00i00000 0s000 00 0000t00000000 000h0000 00000e000 0000 00000i0 00m000 0000 000 00p0000 0 0000o000 0000 00s000000 00 0000t000 0000000e0000 0000000 000r00000 0000 000000 00000.00 [REDACTED] They safely made it to the roof.

“Wow. That was weird,” Geoffrey remarked.

Back inside, Carol had to turn around, as she had been cut off by soldiers. She found her way back to wherever Thomas was.

“There’s too many! What’s your way out?!”

“Here!” Thomas held a small box in his hand, and it read “Tank in a Tiny Box.”

“How is that gonna help us?”

“J-u-s-t a-d-d water! Stand back.” Thomas poured the contents of a water bottle into the box. A tank suddenly bursting out of it.

“The lads have really been stepping it up in the weapons department!”

Both he and Carol climbed in the tank just as the soldiers stormed the room. Thomas took the controls and smashed the tank through a wall.

“We’ll have to wait here until the coast is clear!” he said.

~*~

A distance away, Henry and Charles climbed on top of another warehouse, on a rooftop that was in plain view of the army. Henry drew a pistol.

“Quick, Charles. Act like a hostage!”

Henry tucked Charles into what appeared to be choke hold, and he fired the pistol into the air. It got the attention of the closer section of the mob of soldiers. Charles pretended to struggle, while Henry waved his gun at the soldiers. The sun was also starting to rise, so that looked pretty cool too.

“I have your man! And you want me! Henry Stickmin of the Toppat Clan!”

“Is that really the Toppat chief?” a soldier asked.

“Sure looks like it. After him, men!”

Henry’s shot also caught the attention of Right and Bowie, who were running out of ammo.

Bowie looked at Henry waving at the army. “What in God’s name is he doing?”

“I’m not sure. It looks like he’s trying to divert their attention,” Right assumed.

“Right Hand Man, come in!” I called him over his communicator.

“What is it, Reg?”

“Meet me at the extraction point. It’s time to pull out!”

“What about Henry?”

“He’s trying to lead The Government away from us. Get over here, as soon as you can!”

“Well all be… Henry is stickin’ his neck out for us, once again, eh? _Huh._ Maybe he _will_ win me over, this time.” He contemplated, taking off with Bowie, towards the warehouse. “Just hope he doesn’t die, I guess.”

~*~

From the top of the warehouse the sun could finally be seen over the horizon. As light began to filter into the roads and alleyways, I and the others arrived on the scene. We drove up as the army was being lured away by Henry. As they moved away, the scouting Toppats began to to beamed up to the Orbital Station, one by one. I recognized Thomas and Coral as they exited their tank.

“Che- _er_ , Reginald! You’re here! And The Government is retreating?” Thomas asked.

“Henry is luring them away. Quick, hop in! I’ll get us to the roof!”

They did so, and as they got in they recognized Fredrick.

“Fredrick? What are you doing here?”

I drove off and made the car airborne, circling the warehouse until we gained the altitude to land on the roof. Fred and the other TopOps jumped out of the car, but Ellie stayed in.

“You’re not getting out?” I asked her.

“I’m not leaving without Henry,” she said sternly.

“Well, I can’t argue with his loyal second in command. Speaking of loyal second in command…”

Right Hand Man suddenly landed on the roof, with Bowie dismounting from his back.

“Is everyone alright and accounted for?”

“Yes, plus one!” Ellie pointed at Fredrick.

“Fred, when’d you get here?” Right asked, taken aback.

“That’s not our copter guy?” Bowie asked.

“No, he’s with Henry, who I and Ellie are gonna go back for. We’re taking the back escape route out.”

“Well, you aren’t going alone, The Government is still there. I used up my energy reserves for my laser, but I still have some rounds. You have any left, Bowie?”

“Yes, sir.”

Right nodded. “We’ll cover you.”

“Got it.” I nodded in response, and looked over at the rest of the Toppats. “You guys call Burt, and head back home. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Hey!” Bowie called. “Did you guys find the rock?”

“Indeed we did,” Thomas said, as Carol proudly held out the Brazilian Tourmaline in her hand.

“Aw, heck yeah!”

“Beautiful.” Right smiled.

“Good job everyone! Now… Back to business.”

I returned to my car and Ellie, and we took off, with Right and Bowie following closely behind. I could only hope Henry and Charles were still alright.

~*~

Henry and Charles jumped down from the warehouse they had been on top of, and landed on some boxes, which broke their fall. They quickly started running down the road.

“Now, what do we do, Henry?”

“We keep running, until we get to a clearer area or the soldiers catch up to us!”

They kept running, seemingly without the army on their tail. They cut through a few other storage warehouses, when suddenly, Charles stopped in his tracks, as something caught his attention.

“Charles, what are you doing?”

“Henry, look! Check these out!”

Apparently, they had just found a stash of costume apparel, most of which included top hats.

“Do you guys need some, up top? I can grab a few.”

“We don’t have time for this, Charles!” Henry said as he sloppily jogged in place. “We have plenty of hats available on the station!”

“Hold on, this one looks neat! It’s got a ribbon that matches my headset! Hey, can this be my first steal?”

“Yes! Sure! Let’s go!”

“Awesome!”

Charles admired his hat, as Henry suddenly glanced over a black top hat similar to his.

“Aw, heck,” he said as he swiped it. “Quick, we can store our hats in here.”

Henry pulled out his Infini-Cube and stuck the two hats inside it. Abruptly, the sounds of the soldiers trailing behind could be heard outside the building.

“Alright. Time to go!”

Henry grabbed Charles, and they began running again. This time, the soldiers were following much closer. It was at this time, I called Henry on his walkie-talkie.

“Henry! Where are you!?”

“We’re on our way out. Where are you?!”

“On the exit path we’re just heading out. I don’t see you. Are you still by The Government?”

“Not for long. Time to put this old gadget to use. I’m coming to you, Reg!”

It took me a moment to realize what Henry was talking about.

“Oh no… You don’t mean…?”

“Start looking around, Reginald!” he said before cutting out.

“What are we gonna do, Henry?” Charles asked.

Henry still had a tight grip on Charles, as they ran.

“Charles, be ready for anything!”

“What do you mean?!”

Henry pulled out a device. It was the teleporter.

“Please work!” Henry groaned as he hit the button.

When he did so, he and Charles vanished from the view of The Government. Gone! Where did they go, you suppose? Hm… I’d say about… 2.5 to 3 miles up in the air?

“Aghhh! What are we doing up here!!?!!?” Charles screamed.

“God sticking dang it, this thing!” Henry cursed out the gadget, as they fell through the air.

 _Back down on Earth,_ we were all frantically looking around for where they would pop-up. Henry had told me he had a teleporter, and when I had gotten my new car, we set a GPS location on said teleporter, so that he could teleport straight to my car. But to be honest, I was very skeptical. Mobile teleporters always seem to be finicky.

It was Bowie who thought to look up, a short ways behind us.

“Uh guys, what’s that?” She pointed up.

“That’s them!!!!” Ellie shrieked.

Sure enough. It was Henry and Charles plummeting to their deaths.

“Hang on!” I turned the car around and blasted it into the air, going as fast as it could to intercept them.

Right Hand Man was flying right beside me. If I failed at catching them, I hoped he would, instead. Before we knew it, we were at the same level with Henry and Charles, I just had to get the car underneath them, so that they could safely land into it.

“See? We’ll be fine!” Henry called over to Charles.

“This was the greatest plan ever!” Charles cheered, as I managed to get under them.

Ellie reached out of her seat to grab ahold of Henry and guide them into the car. I don’t recall breathing through the whole ordeal, but Ellie dragged them safely into the back seat. After a collective sigh of relief, Right landed himself in the front passenger seat, with Bowie. With everyone safe and accounted for, it was time to leave. I called Burt.

“Burt. Get us _the hell_ out of here… Ah— _please_.”

“No problem. Beaming aboard one party bus. Welcome home, guys.”


	6. Wrapping-Up the Story

The warehouse raid on the edge of Washington D.C. had been a spectacular success! Not only did we get what we came for; Charles Calvin and the Brazilian Tourmaline, but we got our man Fredrick back, as well. He had enough intel to share with us to help plan a raid on the prison where the rest of our missing men were being held. We were confident that we’d get all our members back, and we’d be at full strength, once again. Well, full strength plus two.

We happily welcomed Charles Calvin and Bowie Strife as our two latest members under the recommendations of Henry and Ellie. Charles and Bowie were initiated together, with well-fitted hats, and already assigned jobs within the clan.

Charles got a brand new helicopter to fly around. His piloting and teamwork skills did make him a very valuable member of the clan. It’s safe to say, Henry always prefers to go by helicopter on his missions. Someone had to show Charles the ropes, anyhow.

As for Bowie, she found herself quickly welcomed by the weapons department, she being a wellspring of information on guns and connections on the subject. Later on, Right suggested to me that we take Bowie on as something of an apprentice. Since we had ”retired” from our leadership positions, we fancied the idea of training the newer, inexperienced recruits. Bowie was an ideal start. She had also apparently grown on Right, some. There’s a soft spot in him somewhere. I’m sure he’s even starting to warm up to Henry, despite his grudges and stubbornness.

All has been peaceful, in our orbital station, since.

“Hey, Reginald.”

“Henry? What are you doing here? I thought you were busy, on a mission.”

“Yeah, I was about to go, when I suddenly remembered I had this. I wanted to give it to you before I forgot, again.”

“Is this the black top hat you got from the warehouse? What about it?”

“I got this for you.”

“What?”

“Listen, I know I didn’t come on board the clan in the most ideal fashion. You were a great leader, and you still are a figurehead of the establishment. So, I want you to have this, as a replacement for the one I took from you.”

“Wuh? Henry, you don’t have to do that. The only reason I had that hat in the first place is because it was originally Terrence’s. I’m fine with just my grey one.”

“Don’t be modest. You’re an important part of the Toppat hierarchy. Best look the part, yknow?”

“I guess you’re right… Thank you Henry. That means a lot.”

“No biggie. Just callin’ it how it is. See you later!”

“Bye, Henry! … Wow.”

Well, I suppose it’s time I bring this story to an end. In my history of being in the Toppat Clan, I’ve had many great adventures, whether they be by myself, with my Right Hand Man, or all my other friends and comrades. With Henry around, things continue to be exciting and refreshing. So, I’m afraid I must apologize to you all because I lied. The greatest heist hasn’t happened yet!

THE END

Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
